New Zealand should have backed seamers: Dane Piedt

Dane Piedt, the South African offspinner, said that New Zealand should have prepared seam-friendly tracks and backed their pace bowlers to do the job against South Africa. Keshav Maharaj, South Africa's left-arm spinner, bagged six wickets in the second innings of the second Test in Wellington, while JP Duminy picked up four in the first innings to propel the visitors to a memorable eight-wicket win.

Piedt, who was added to the South African squad for the final Test in Hamilton, also observed that the curators had prepared seam-friendly tracks when Pakistan and Bangladesh toured New Zealand earlier in the season.

"I think they have shot themselves in the foot," Piedt said on Monday (March 20). "They didn't back their seamers to do the job, and I thought their seamers bowled pretty well in South Africa. They bowled us out for 263 in Durban on quite a sporting deck.

"I didn't expect that New Zealand would play two spinners in the first Test and when they left Tim Southee out I was also surprised. Just the fact that two series before that, Bangladesh and Pakistan were here and they played on surfaces that were quite sporting for the seamers. I expected it to be the same, but obviously with the type of seam attack we have they thought they would be under pressure."

Piedt also commended Maharaj for his impressive returns in the second Test in Wellington. The left-arm spinner blended nagging control with clever changes of pace to run through the New Zealand line-up in the second essay.

Maharaj, who made his first-class debut in 2006-07, has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit. This season he picked up a 13-wicket haul for Dolphins against Warriors, which helped him gain a spot in the Test side.

"He's shown that he's in unbelievable form and he's done that in domestic cricket so I can only be happy for him. I spoke to him last night and I told him how impressive it's been to watch him bowl on the international stage. It's never hard feelings. It's about spin bowlers coming through and being able to show their skill to the rest of the world," Piedt observed.

"His changes of pace and the angles he bowls at are impressive. The shape of his ball is really good as well. If you're bowling consistently in the same sort of area you're always going to be rewarded, like he has. He's quite a patient guy so he does it for long periods of time."

Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, Colin de Grandhomme and Trent Boult combined together to pick up 36 wickets in the Test series against Pakistan, while the pacers took 34 wickets between them against Bangladesh.

However, the One-Day International matches between South Africa and New Zealand were largely played on tracks that assisted the spinners. Even the first Test in Dunedin took place on a pitch that was on the slower side. Incidentally, Hagen Faith, the Wellington groundsman, had left a tinge of grass for the second Test. New Zealand, however, crumbled against the spin duo of Maharaj and Duminy.

"You couldn't call that Basin deck a raging, turning deck. Maharaj, to his credit, bowled nicely with control and put the ball in the right areas but I don't think it was overly threatening. To allow a spinner like him to take 6 for 40 is unacceptable," Gavin Larsen, New Zealand's selector said. "When you come to a deck that might turn a little bit more, you might argue it's going to present even more challenges."

The third Test of the series will be played in Hamilton. Historically, the track in Hamilton has provided some assistance for the spinners, evidenced by the 39 wickets Daniel Vettori has taken at the ground.

"The history would suggest that this season, in particular, it has turned up there. If you're asking if we've ordered the pitch to turn, no we haven't," he said. "The reality is that that's the way it has been panning out in Hamilton and we've picked our team accordingly, similar to Dunedin where we thought it would be dry."